Chinese networking giant Huawei has announced the launch of its eLTE Multimedia Critical Communications System (eLTE MCCS), which it said provides "ultra-reliable" communications solutions for public safety organisations.

According to Huawei, the narrowband networks traditionally used for public safety are limited to providing access to basic voice services. The eLTE MCCS service uses a mobile service convergence platform to interconnect such networks with video surveillance and geographic information systems.

"This platform would enable gradual phasing out of existing narrowband networks and upgrading to new networks while maintaining provision of services and protecting the investments customers have already made in narrowband networks," Huawei explained.

"eLTE MCCS' Dispatching Anywhere capability provides ubiquitous multimedia dispatching of voice, video, and data that allows streamlining of the last kilometre in police cloud operations, enabling smart policing and the agile use of resources such as police cloud video and data," Huawei said.

The Comprehensive Awareness capability then provides personal devices, vehicle-mounted equipment, drones, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and mobile control cameras, which Huawei said would enable the prediction of safety hazards as well as increasing public safety agency efficiency and providing "trustable multimedia evidence for law enforcement".

Lastly, the Multi-Service Collaboration capability connects narrowband trunking systems including P25, Tetra, and DMR with public communications networks, as well as safeguarding assets.

"With eLTE MCCS, data no longer needs to be exchanged between officers repeatedly; instead, a one-off exchange with the system will suffice. This simplifies the work of the police and raises the efficiency of collaboration," Huawei said.

Nokia had in February revealed to ZDNet that it has also been hosting discussions with a Sydney-based university in order to push its framework for drones in Australia with a major focus on public safety.

Nokia head of IoT Market Solutions Mohamed Abdelrehim told ZDNet that Nokia's drone journey got its boost upon receiving a $1 million grant from the Dubai government after showcasing the use of drones in natural disasters.

For emergencies and natural disasters now, Nokia has enabled a full LTE base station to be put on the back of a car or even in a backpack, providing a small, private 4G network to a radius of up to 5km square providing coverage for the drones.

In China, the Longgang District government and Huawei last year collaborated on developing a safe city solution framework focused on data collection, aggregation, convergence, and applications.

"To better detect, respond, and recover from crimes ... we basically went on a journey and started looking at various types of innovative technologies. The key principle was I want to connect all my resources and my assets, I want to use data as a source and foundation to get predictive intelligence," Huawei Enterprise global public safety expert Augustine Chiew said in November.

"It needs to improve response time; it needs to help me solve cases. More importantly, my officers need to be empowered so that they can have a more effective position on the ground ... as a district, we wanted to have the ability to do deep analysis [and] look at data."

Under the project, Huawei and Longgang deployed 7,000 HD cameras across the district and connected 34,000 legacy cameras in shopping malls, parks, petrol stations, and communities.

The cameras make use of licence plate and facial recognition technology, with Chiew saying they capture around 14.6 million facial images every day, along with 140,000 number plate readings at petrol stations.

Around 7,457 Huawei smartphones have also been deployed to officers, allowing them to run specifically designed apps for identity checks, vehicle checks, accessing camera feeds, issuing summonses, and updating reports on the go.

The district also saved on capital expenditure through data convergence.

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